Two days after the passing away of senior actor Kaikala Satyanarayana, the Telugu film industry witnessed the demise of yet another veteran. Actor Chalapathi Rao passed away in the wee hours of Sunday in his residence in Hyderabad, the family members revealed. He was 78.

The actor was reportedly ill for the past two years, battling age-related complications and a heart attack has been cited as the cause of death.

Born on May 8, 1944, Chalapathi Rao made his debut with Goodachari 116 in 1966 and went on to have a flourishing career. He acted in more than 1200 films in a career spanning more than 50 years. The actor made a mark by playing the villain and supporting roles. Some of his most prominent roles include, Yamagola (1977), Anubandham (1975), Manushulanta Okkate (1976), Daana Veera Soora Karna (1977), Yuga Purushudu (1978), Driver Ramudu (1979), Vetagadu (1979), Gandeevam (1994), Bobbili Simham (1994), and appeared in the last decade, he acted in films like Arundhati (2009), Kick (2009), Ek Niranjan (2009), Legend (2014), Sathamanam Bhavati (2017), and Vinaya Vidheya Rama (2019). This year, he was seen in Bangarraju and his final film appearance was in a film titled Oh Manishi Neevevaru.

Chalapathi Rao also produced films such as Ardharathri Hatyalu (1985), Kaliyuga Krishnudu (1986), Kadapa Reddamma (1990), Jagannatakam (1991), Pellante Noorella Panta (1992) and President Gari Alludu (1994), to name a few.

He is survived by two daughters and a son. His son is Ravi Babu, a well-known actor, and director.